Hickory Ridge Porch at Balsam Mountain Preserve

I have loved the opportunity to do some seasonal design work at a friend’s house at Balsam Mountain Preserve.  When she asked me to add a little summer pizzaz to her porch, I quickly jumped at the chance. 

At first, I just added some plants and a few of the outdoor cushions to soften things up, but I felt like it needed something to tie the colors together and make things pop, so I searched online and found the perfect thing — a rug. 

I love, love, love this rug from Pottery Barn, and because she already had the larger gray rug, I opted to layer a 5′ x 8′ rug on top of the gray one so the bold pattern would not be too overwhelming but add just the right amount of color and pattern. 

And wow was that a perfect choice. What a difference it made, and it ties all the colors together so nicely. 

This is a gorgeous kilim rug and would work just as well in an indoor space. 

I never would have imagined it would coordinate so well with the pillow fabric she already had, either. It just could not be more perfect. 

I also added lots of ferns to soften the hard edges and bring the green of the surrounding mountains to the porch. 

They have a lot of copper on the outside of the house so I just had to get these planters with the copper trim when I saw them at Lowes. 

On the other side of the porch is a double-sided stone fireplace, to which I also added some planters. 

Again, I wanted things to coordinate so I added the rust shades in the plants as well as the planters. 

It doesn’t hurt that they are surrounded by nature and on top of this beautiful mountain. 

As gorgeous as this space is, though, it really needed the rug to ground everything, and I think it turned out beautifully.

This is definitely a spot I would stay all day long:-) 

I have several more outdoor spaces to share from this gorgeous home as well, so please come back by.

I’ll be joining:

Feathered Nest Fridays

Foodie Friday and Everything Else

Metamorphosis Monday

Inspire Me Tuesday

Wow us Wednesdays